Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Technology Secrets of the Congressional Clock

On June 11, as part of Healthcare IT Advocacy Day in Washington DC, I visited several offices on Capital Hill (Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Jim McGovern and Barney Frank) to discuss the importance of ePrescribing, data standards, and support of incentives for EHR adoption.

While wandering through the House (Cannon, Longworth, Rayburn) and Senate (Russell, Dirksen, Hart) buildings, I noticed that the clocks in all the offices had various lights and buzzers. I asked Congressional staffers to explain the secret code behind these signals and no one really knew.

After scouring the web for hours to no avail (Google has no information on Congressional clocks), one of our Advocacy team members found the following information buried on page 35 of an unindexed PDF on the Senate website.

1 long ring followed by a pause and then 3 rings and 3 lights on the leftStart or continuation of a notice or short quorum call in the Committee of the Whole that will be vacated if and when 100 Members appear on the floor. Bells are repeated every five minutes unless the call is vacated or the call is converted into a regular quorum call.

1 long ring and extinguishing of 3 lights on the leftShort or notice quorum call vacated.

2 rings and 2 lights on the left15 minute recorded vote, yea-and-nay vote or automatic rollcall vote by electronic device. The bells are repeated five minutes after the first ring.

2 rings and 2 lights on the left followed by a pause and then 2 more ringsAutomatic rollcall vote or yea-and-nay vote taken by a call of the roll in the House. The bells are repeated when the Clerk reaches the R�s in the first call of the roll.

2 rings followed by a pause and then 5 ringsFirst vote on clustered votes. Two bells are repeated five minutes after the first ring. The first vote will take 15 minutes with successive votes at intervals of not less than five minutes. Each successive vote is signaled by five rings.

3 rings and 3 lights on the left15 minute quorum call in either the House or in the Committee of the Whole by electronic device. The bells are repeated five minutes after the first ring.

3 rings followed by a pause and then 3 more rings15 minute quorum call by a call of the roll. The bells are repeated when the Clerk reaches the R�s in the first call of the roll.

3 rings followed by a pause and then 5 more ringsQuorum call in the Committee of the Whole that may be followed immediately by a five-minute recorded vote.

4 rings and 4 lights on the leftAdjournment of the House.

5 rings and 5 lights on the leftAny five-minute vote.

6 rings and 6 lights on the leftRecess of the House.

12 rings at 2-second intervals with 6 lights on the leftCivil Defense Warning.

The 7th light indicates that the House is in session.

Thus, the picture above indicates that the House is in session (red light), but in recess (6 lights).

Now you know the secrets of the Congressional clock and how our elected officials know when to run from their offices to the House and Senate floors.

Technology Secrets of the Congressional Clock
Kang Yayat
2008-07-01T03:00:00-07:00
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On June 11, as part of Healthcare IT Advocacy Day in Washington DC, I visited several offices on Capital Hill (Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Jim ...